is my rat pregnant why wont she breed?

Hi, I bought a male and female a few weeks ago and put them together for a good few days and then seperated but she didnt look like she was pregnant as she came into heat the next day so i put him in again when she was in heat ( I think) and there was more action this time lol but she just kept rolling over kicking him away but now im thinking...was she already pregnant shes not ''fat'' as such but her nipples are on show quite alot, could she be pregnant?

any help is appreciated

thankyou

When you breed rodents you don't remove them after a few days to re-introduce them gain, you leave them together and you remove one or the other (depending on how your rotation works) when the female is visibly pregnant.

Did you buy adult? Did you buy young rats?

If you bought adult the female might be past due her prime and her nipple showing might be the results of past pregnancies.

If you bought young rats you need to make sure to raise the female to an optimum weight of 250 grams before breeding.

When starting a colony you should buy rats that are 4 to 6 weeks of age to ensure that you have young animals that never bred buying adults might not yield the results you are wishing for.

As for the female being pregnant or not since I don't see the rat I can't tell, females will start getting bigger and it is very visible when holding the female by her tail and looking at her belly (make sure you hold as close as possible to the base of the tail)

Few things to keep in mind

Frequency of estrus- Every 4-5 days
Length of estrus- Usually 12 hours (most often at night)
Gestation 21 days

thankyou for the help I shall post a picture now one second

and they are young rats

she is 3 months and im not too sure on weather shes pregnant also how do you know if there in heat? is it the first hole? the one near the tail if thats open does that means she is?[IMG]DSCF8697[/IMG]

This will answer your questions about anatomy http://ratguide.com/breeding/anatomy...ive_system.php

Estrus (heat) cannot be mistaken as you will see spots of bloods.

When I started my breeding it took a good 2-3 months before my first litter popped out, but after that they would bred really fast. Also, depending on how many rats you want, you could leave the male with the female and he will make her pregnant immediately after she gives birth. This does wear down the female and that's why I personally don't do it but if you need a lot of production you can do it just make sure to take out the previous litter before the mom gives birth again.

Maybe she has a headache, geez.